September 30, 2008
10:00 AM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2008-35

When It Comes to Galaxies, Diversity Is Everywhere

September 30, 2008: There's an old saying in astronomy: "Galaxies are like people. They're only normal until you
get to know them." That view is supported by a group of astronomers after using NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope to study a large number of galaxies in our cosmic backyard.
The detailed survey, called the ACS Nearby Galaxy
Survey Treasury (ANGST) program,
observed roughly 14 million stars in 69 galaxies. The survey explored a region called the
"Local Volume," and the galaxy distances ranged from 6.5 million light-years to 13 million
light-years from Earth. The Local Volume resides beyond the Local Group of galaxies, an
even nearer collection of a few dozen galaxies within about 3 million light-years of our Milky
Way Galaxy. The observations were made in November 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.